Houston couple wins $5,000 to fund wedding across state lines. Jeff Robertson and Jeremiah Pyant will travel by hot air balloon to New Mexico to tie the knot.

Photo By Jeff Roberston

Houston couple wins $5,000 to fund wedding across state lines. Jeff
Robertson and Jeremiah Pyant will travel by hot air balloon to New
Mexico to tie the knot.

Photo By Jeff Roberston

Houston couple wins $5,000 to fund wedding across state lines. Jeff
Robertson and Jeremiah Pyant will travel by hot air balloon to New
Mexico to tie the knot.

Photo By Jeff Roberston

Photo By Jeff Roberston

The couple got engaged on a beach on Mexico in a surprise trip planned by Jeff.

Photo By Jeff Roberston

The couple got engaged on a beach on Mexico in a surprise trip planned by Jeff.

Photo By Jeff Roberston

The couple got engaged on a beach on Mexico in a surprise trip planned by Jeff.

Photo By Jeff Roberston

The couple got engaged on a beach on Mexico in a surprise trip planned by Jeff.

Photo By Jeff Roberston

The couple got engaged on a beach on Mexico in a surprise trip planned by Jeff.

A Houston couple will get married in a hot air balloon over New Mexico after winning $5,000 in an online competition designed to promote civil rights.

The contest called My Big Gay Illegal Wedding was run by the American Civil Liberties Union with five winners chosen through an online vote.

Couples living in states where same-sex marriage is still illegal had to come up with crazy ideas for how they would travel to a state where they were allowed to tie the knot.

Houston winners Jeff Robertson and Jeremiah Pyant will drive to El Paso then board a hot air balloon with a small group of their friends then float out of Texas toward New Mexico.

Once they reach New Mexican air space they will be married by a wedding official who will be on board with them.

"It's exciting, we're excited to go in a hot air balloon from El Paso to New Mexico," said Robertson, who says he has no idea how long the ride will be. "I just expect there to be lots of champagne."

The ACLU launched the contest back in December to highlight the plight of couples who were still not able to get married in their home state.

"We wanted to highlight the fact that marriage equality doesn't extend to everyone," said Rebecca Robertson, legal and policy director for the ACLU in Texas. "As people get to know the couples in these situations, learn the real impact on their lives, public opinion often changes," Robertson said in February.

The ACLU has an open guest book on the competition website. Five people who sign will be chosen to win an all-expense paid trip to New York for Robertson and Pyant's reception.

Houston's winning couple will also have an event in Robertson's home town of Milwaukee later in the year.

"This is our marriage in the name of equal rights," said Robertson of his aerial wedding set for April 29.